Nose Goes

Posted on Mon Dec 10th, 2018 @ 11:17am by Captain Mrazak & Lieutenant Commander Kiril Nevin & Lieutenant Commander BaoJun Qiao & Lieutenant Nevada McKay M.D. & Gunnery Sergeant Roderik Kos & Ferrofax & Captain Jeanette Armitage

1,972 words; about a 10 minute read

Mission: S1E2: Half Past Dead
Location: Strategic Operations Conference Room, Deck 1, USS Phantom
Timeline: MD 2

It wasn't the worst of times, but far from the best. By the time Chief Shvnerik, as Mrazak had learned was the proper name for the Comms Specialist, made her rounds to collect the Field Team and send them to the Strategic Operations Conference Room, the communications system portion of the ship-wide diagnostic was cleared, which restored combadge communication. While the Field Team assembled, she waited on the bridge along with the Tactical counterpart at the helm. Mrazak had neglected to learn his name.

Mrazak studied the faces of each one present. Doctors Kiril and McKay, Lieutenants Qiao and Zelaney, Sergeant Kos, and Captain Armitage. Everybody looked miserable, though none the worse for wear after their encounters with the Clock Makers. Turning a blind eye to the empty seats that should have been occupied by Lieutenants Odette and Zork, Mrazak cleared his throat to begin the proceedings.

"Let us begin with the obvious: the Red Matter device has failed. Although Master Sokolov has given assurances that containment failure of our quantum slipstream drive and warp core are unlikely, our engines are still locked out along with the primary power grid and its associated systems for the duration of the ship-wide diagnostic." Checking the chronometer The fact we are still alive means that our fail-safe has, in fact, failed."

He paused a moment to let that sink in.

"What remains before us now is to determine a backup fail-safe." He set his jaw, knowing that he was likely asking for someone to volunteer a plan that would kill them all in order to save the Federation, perhaps even the galaxy. "I'm opening the floor to suggestions."

Bao looked up from where he was seated. "I believe, as a terran might say, that discretion is the better part of valour. Consider what we know: they have not attacked or molested the Phantom despite the mountain being out of water as it were. They also appear to be constructing something, though tian xiao de what and why," he said. "Our direct interactions with them have not been to our advantage so far, and I have no suggestions on how to change that, but since establishing communication, they have expressed a desire to avoid "wasting resources" as they phrased it. The original spoke of itself as a processing amalgam as opposed to a unitary consciousness. Just now on the bridge the process referred to itself as a tool following programming. I would posit that the so-called clockmakers represent a botched technological singularity of the kind the Federation fears from Lagash. They harvest and build because they were created to, but their emergent consciousness has not or more like for some reason cannot evolve beyond that directive. We are talking to a very sophisticated bulldozer, in effect." He paused to think further, or invite comment, as not being a computer or cybernetics specialist, that had exhausted his immediate pool of insight.

"Any way we can introduce a virus?" Rodi offered, "Some kind of logic puzzle that forces them to dedicate all recourses to." Rodi felt profoundly awkward speaking up like this. He was more of a plan executioner than a plan-maker himself, especially when it came to these kinds of higher order issues than how to best neutralize a physical foe.

Mrazak nodded faintly, though remained silent until all ideas were on the table. This was not the time to be brash.

"From my scans of the substance, I don't believe it'd be susceptible to a bacteria or virus," Nevin said.

Isaiah shifted, "But it does seem to be attracted to warp fields," he said. "They're like a beacon, drawn in by the harmonics."

There were a few eyes that immediately looked at Isaiah, who for all intents and purposes should not be standing here unscathed. Being consumed by a clockmaker swarm was instant death, from what they understood, and there were plenty of opportunities for the swarm to come into contact with him. But it seems they didn't care to snack on the young computer specialist, much to his pleasure and good fortune.

"That could mean bad news for us," Nevin said. "We just brought a homing signal right into the heart of their territory."

"Not a biological virus, lieutenant, a computer virus. Something impossible to solve could just draw their focus onto itself?" Rodi replied.

"These machinations do not seem overly concerned with solving problems," Mrazak said. "They exist in a minuscule order of magnitude which sees only one thing: matter to be claimed and restructured. The simplicity of their purpose is their strength. If only..." He scowled and gripped his chin in thought. "If only we could find a way to corrupt their purpose! We could alter their programming and render them inert. Or even controllable." His eyes began to gleam with possibilities. Possibilities that must await another day. "But first we must find a way to eliminate this current infestation."

"I have a suggestion," Armitage said slowly. She'd been sat at the back of the room with one of the Phantoms medic's going over her with a medkit. She was alright, but given she was a walking tin soldier now it made sense to keep all the moving parts alive as long as possible. "We have the means and the trigger to blow up New Far Florence's sun. And if we do it right, we won't befall the same problem the Red Matter bomb had."

She turned to look at Ferrorax's black holo cam, and after a moment reached into a pocket of her uniform and pulled out a grey metal disk the size of a playing card. Inlaid upon it was a complicated golden tracery, the sort of Gordian knot the Celt's would design on their most compulsive day. Along one side, laser etched into the metal, was the name Heart Of Midlothian. The gold pattern flashed, a figure appeared above the card. Human form in shape, the face was rendered in a smooth featureless oval along one side and trellis work of golden data fretwork on the other. The rest was a patchwork of the same. Armitage's biological eye shone with some unidentifiable emotion.

"Greetings," Heart of Midlothian said in a soft, reassuring voice best suited for the giving of bad news. "It is...agreeable to be allowed one final act of service."

"Let's not go getting ahead of ourselves old friend," Armitage said, her voice breaking a little at the end. "Lay out what we have in mind."

"A star is a nuclear fusion reaction held in check by its immense gravity and tidal forces. Usually, those forces have to be tampered with in a suitably energetic fashion to tip the scales towards chaotic energy dispersal. A red Matter event, or a trilithium warhead," Heart of Midlothian held out a hand, and from it sprang a larger holographic image of NFF's sun. A shell of red hash marks slowly wrapped around it. "This is the Cochrane Limit, the point at which all warp drives are designed to stop functioning. There are a myriad of reasons why, but chief among them is the gravitational warp effect. A ship engaging its warp field at full power past this limit would begin a rapid degeneration in the star's gravimetric constant."

"You walk into a bar, spill a Klingon's drink, you get out of the way for the punch," Armitage finished. "Or in this case an XC class nova event. Abadar's Gate will not be accepting new colonies this century with the fall out."

Mrazak's eyes glistened at the implications. "XC class nova... yes, yes that may indeed work! Slow enough for the Phantom to outrun with ease, yet even if the kinetic dispersion would fail to overwhelm the Clock Maker's concussive tolerance threshold, the accretion disk of the newly forged singularity would undoubtedly trap all traces of them within its event horizon." The Vulcan clapped his hands with vigor renewed by hope, only to be deflated by a realization. "And yet... the Phantom is the only ship for a hundred parsecs, maybe a thousand if our run of bad luck continues to ride. How do you propose to execute this last ditch effort before that infernal solar construction of theirs is completed?"

"so...let me see if I understand what you're proposing," Nevada said as she sat up. "To stop one Armageddon...we cause another, bigger Armageddon?" She asked. "I mean...Any amount of Super Novae is gonna have catastrophic Effects on any star System near it, and pollute the galaxy with yet another Singularity."

"This isn't up for debate," Mrazak said. "We aren't proposing to do anything that the Red Matter device would not have done had the Clock Makers not eaten it. One way or another, this system is lost, whether by a supernova or by infestation." His jaw snapped at the very thought of allowing the Clock Makers to continue unchecked. "So, the way I see it, since we have a dire lack of Red Matter and trilithium, it sounds like our only option is to overclock a warp drive close enough to the star to force it apart at the seams." He looked around at everyone. "Do I hear any objections to setting such a course with the Phantom? Because it has to be us. By the time we set out for resupply or reinforcements, there is no telling what will be waiting for us once that superstructure is completed!" The Vulcan stuck a finger toward New Far Florence's star. "Unless anyone can present an alternative, then I will lay in a kamikaze heading as soon as the diagnostic is completed."

Nevin shifted from one leg to the other, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. The last thing he wanted to do was destroy an entire star system, but Mrazak had a point. The clockmakers couldn't be left unattended and unchecked. "I don't think there's anything else we can do," he said, softly.

"If any of you wish to take the remaining shuttle in attempts to save yourselves, then be my guest," Mrazak said. "Without the slipstream, it's unlikely you'll reach Federation space or even close enough to send a transmission before life-support fails, so I will go out on the bridge." His face and tone turned dark. "I wouldn't want to pass up the front row seat to the Clock Makers' demise."

"Somewhere on this ship is a dial marked high drama, and it needs to be turned all the way down," Armitage said with a shake of her head. "The Eros still has a functional warp drive. Its structural integrity ain't great, but all we need it to do is sit it in one place and spin its tyres metaphorically speaking. Phantom tow's the Eros to the point it needs to be and then warps out, leaving behind a ship with a two-second time delay on its warp drive. Clock Maker's are fast but so far we've not seen them go FTL with a warp drive, and they obey the laws of physics at least in the broad strokes. We should be able to get the wreck in without getting mobbed. As for the infestation already on the ship...Marine fire team should be able to keep me going until I can set the controls. Captain override will be needed anyway to disable the Cochrane limiter. Then we all beam out and run before the clock plays out. But hey, you do you, Commander Extrajudicial Authority. You do you."

Mrazak blinked as he listened, and then a few more times once Armitage had concluded. It was a long shot, but even if it failed, the Phantom could still ride the blaze of glory.

"Let's do it."

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